Verified by 
Sports coaches and performance consultants are increasingly employing questioning as an avenue to nurture growth and development. Opposed to more traditional approaches to teaching where a coach, typically, provided all of the answers and simply instructed athletes where to go and what to do, a more humanistic and contemporary approach is to facilitate learning and development. Of course there are various ways to accomplish this and no method is going to work all of the time, however, it is important to consider the potential influence that asking an insightful question can have on the development of athletes.
Influence
Autonomy is a basic human need. Everybody has the desire to feel as though they are contributing to and have a degree of influence on their lives. Asking questions that allow a suitable amount of volition is likely to enhance motivation as athletes experience a greater sense of self-determination. A simple question such as “how would you like to warm up today?” provides athletes with an opportunity to make a decision and influence an important aspect of their lives.
Ownership (accountability)
Assuming ownership and accountability is a likely outcome of experiencing a greater level of influence. Athletes who perceive ownership over the process are more likely to exert maximum effort, be resilient, and experience desired forms of motivation than athletes who experience little control over their development. When coaches provide athletes with decision-making opportunities, they portray a stance that promotes joint ownership. Athletes who are coached exclusively via instruction often report feeling as though they have no control over their development or performance, whereas athletes who are provided with a healthier degree of choice are more likely to describe experiencing greater motivation and satisfaction.
Critical thinking and reflection
All coaches want athletes who are able to reflect and evaluate their performance during competition. However, the behaviours that are often employed by coaches (e.g. direct and immediate feedback after a mistake) are not aligned to developing critical thinking and, in reality, are likely to foster a reliance on the coach. Asking astute questions such as “what will you do if they switch on defense?” or “what would be a strategy that you could use to be more effective in that situation?” promotes higher order thinking and implicitly informs an athlete that they have the ability to reflect and problem solve. As mentioned earlier, such an approach promotes joint ownership over the process and holds athletes accountable for their development and performance.
Enjoyment
With the constant pressure and expectations placed on athletes and coaches we often forget that sport should be enjoyed. As a result of the stress that generally accompanies competitive sport, we are often guilty of becoming overly prescriptive and dictatorial in our coaching – who has the time to ask athletes questions when we have a final this weekend? While there may be some truth to that argument, the potential impact that asking a couple of insightful questions should be considered. Could it help an athlete remember a strategy during the final, or finally understand a specific tactic that you have been trying to explain for weeks? Perhaps most importantly, however, questioning can be used to tap into athletes’ minds to ensure that trainings are fun. For instance, ask athletes what their preferences are for pre-game routines, or ask them to bring along some music to listen to during certain drills.
Steve Kerr, head coach of the recent NBA champion Golden State Warriors, describes some important considerations; “…To me the X’s and O’s… they’re an important part of coaching but a relatively small part. Eighty percent of it is just relationships and atmosphere… are players engaged, are they enjoying themselves, are they competing?” This perspective suggests that the most important aspect to coaching is building a performance culture, and a big part of this is going to be determined by how much the athletes enjoy their environment.
Keep an eye out for a future post that will outline strategies for effectively incorporating questioning into your coaching.
References:
